By DPA,
Madrid : Spanish police Friday detained several people in swoops on Russian arms traffickers and money launderers, police sources said.
The judge who ordered the operation had issued 25 arrest orders. The detainees included four people regarded as ring leaders, according to radio reports.
More than 300 police personnel participated in the swoops in Malaga on the southern Costa del Sol, Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante and the Balearic Islands.
The ring, which had been based in Spain since the early 1990s, was suspected of laundering money from criminal activities elsewhere, trafficking with arms, ordering killings and giving bribes.
The investigation discovered 500 bank accounts used by the ring.
The operation was staged with the support of foreign intelligence services.
Spain’s Costa del Sol is known for the presence of international criminals.